Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Insurance is a contract and
every contract should be interpreted
strictly !

Underwriters evaluate the risk and the premium
is based on exposure, the probable chance of occurrence, frequency and
severity. Burglary insurance provides indemnity for loss or damage to
property insured from the premises insured directly resultant from acts of
burglary. From an Insurance angle, it is not the value of the goods that alone
that matters. Goods that can be sold easily in retail and grey markets
[eg. Cigarette packs / batteries] are bad risks as compared to those which
cannot be sold easily [eg. Special medicines]. Smaller items with high
value [eg.,diamond rings] are worser risk than bulky items like machinery.
Again those who have ready market in retail [eg mobile phones] are bad
risks as compared to those which cannot be sold so easily [say precision
machinery]. In contrast, exhibition items / objects with antique value
are higher risks unless proper security arrangements are in place.

Often the terms are used interchangeably and interpreted
loosely. People tend to claim all losses
as genuine, without looking into the terms of coverage. In a peril defined policy, occurrence being genuine
alone would not warrant consideration – loss or damage should be attributable
to an insured peril.

Section 378 of IPC defines theft and section
379 talks of the punishment for theft. Sec445 is House breaking.—A person is
said to commit “house-breaking” who commits house-trespass if he effects his
entrance into the house or any part of it in any of the six ways described; or
if, being in the house or any part of it for the purpose of committing an
offence, or, having committed an offence therein, he quits the house or any
part of it in any of such six ways !! .. .. however, Insurance Policies define ‘Burglary’. The policy interprets ‘burglary’ as to mean
actual theft or an attempt thereat:

a) accompanied by an actual forcible and violent
entry into or exit from any building at the premises or

The appeal was made by Industrial Promotion & Investment
Corpn of Orissa, a wholly owned Public Sector Undertaking of the Government of
Orissa. They had extended a term loan of
Rs. 40,74,000/- to M/s. Josna Casting Centre Orissa Pvt. Ltd. As the party defaulted, the Industrial Corpn. took over the assets in 1992. They insured the assets against Fire and
Burglary policies. At the time of auctioning the seized assets in 1997 it was
observed that some parts of the plant and machinery were missing from the
factory premises. FIR was filed at Balasore and Insurance claim lodged for a
value of 34.40 lakhs under Burglary policy - the claim was repudiated by Insurers stating
loss was not within the purview of Policy.
The Appellant filed application before MRTP Commission, which too was
rejected. They preferred appeal in the
Apex Court.

The Counsel for appellant contended
that policy covers burglary and applying the
rule of ‘ contra proferentem ’ the words 'theft
following an actual forcible and violent entry/or exit from the premises' are
with reference only to house breaking and not burglary.He contended that forcible and
violent entry is not necessary for making a valid claim under the policy and
that it would be sufficient if there is
theft of certain goods from the factory premises, which fact has been proved by
the Appellant. Mr. Mehta stated that clauses in the case in United India Assurance Co. Ltd. v. Harchand
Rai Chandan Lal and urged that the
Commission committed an error in relying upon the said judgment to reject the
Claim Application for the Appellant.

Advocate representing the Insurer
submitted that there is no difference and urged that an insurance policy is
akin to a commercial contract and has to be construed strictly. He submitted that a forcible entry and/or exit is
compulsory for maintainability of a claim under the policy.

The Hon’ble Court held that there is no
error committed by the MRTP Commission in rejecting the Claim of the Appellant.
It is clear from the facts of the present case that the Appellant has made out
a case of theft without a forcible entry. The case of the Appellant is that
forcible entry is not required for a claim to be made under the policy. Following the well-accepted principle that a contract of
insurance which is like any other commercial contract should be interpreted
strictly, we are of the opinion that the policy covers loss or damage by
burglary or house breaking which have been explained as theft following an
actual, forcible and violent entry from the premises. A plain reading of the policy would show that a forcible
entry should precede the theft, and unless they are proved, the claim cannot be
accepted.

The Court added that a comparison of
the terms as defined in the policy in the case of United India Insurance Co. Ltd.
v. Harchand Rai Chandan Lal (supra) and the scope of cover in the proposal form
in the instant case are similar. In the
earlier case it was held that "The
policy is a contract between the parties and both parties are bound by the
terms of contract.

As per the definition of the word
"burglary", followed with violence, makes it clear that if any theft
is committed it should necessarily be preceded with violence i.e. entry into
the premises for committing theft should involve force or violence or threat to
insurer or to his employees or to the members of his family. Therefore, the
element of force and violence is a condition precedent for burglary and
housebreaking. The term 'burglary' as defined in the English Dictionary means
an illegal entry into the building with an intent to commit crime such as
theft. But in absence of violence or force the insurer cannot claim
indemnification against the insurance company.

The terms of the policy have to be
construed as it is and we cannot add or subtract something. Howsoever liberally
we may construe the policy but we cannot take liberalism to the extent of substituting
the words which are not intended. It is true that in common parlance the term
"burglary" would mean theft but it has to be preceded with force or
violence. If the element of force and violence is not present then the insurer
cannot claim compensation against theft from the insurance company.

The policy may be so framed as to apply
only to violent entry from the outside; or the violent entry into a room within
the insured premises may be sufficient. In any case, the violence must be
connected with the act of entry; if the entry is obtained without violence, the
subsequent use of violence to effect the theft, as for instance where a
show-case is broken open, does not bring the loss within the policy.

The Court further dealt with the submission made by counsel for the
Appellant regarding the rule of contra proferentem. The Common Law rule of
construction "verba chartarum fortius accipiuntur contra proferentem"
means that ambiguity in the wording of the policy is to be resolved against the
party who prepared it. MacGillivray on Insurance Law deals
with the rule of contra proferentem as follows:

"The contra proferentem rule of
construction arises only where there is a wording employed by those drafting
the clause which leaves the court unable to decide by ordinary principles of
interpretation which of two meanings is the right one. "One must not use
the rule to create the ambiguity - one must find the ambiguity first." The
words should receive their ordinary and natural meaning unless that is
displaced by a real ambiguity either appearing on the face of the policy or,
possibly, by extrinsic evidence of surrounding circumstances."

Court in a classical deliverance said –
the assured cannot put his own meaning
upon a policy, but, where it is ambiguous, it is to be construed in the sense
in which he might reasonably have understood it. If the insurers wish to escape
liability under given circumstances, they must use words admitting of no
possible doubt, expressed by the parties and it is not for the Court to make a
new contract, however reasonable.

The Court referring to another case :
United India Vs Orient Treasures (P)
Ltd. held that there is no ambiguity in the insurance policy and so the rule of
contra proferentem was not applicable. The Court upheld the order of the MRTP Commission and dismissed the
Appeal with no order as to costs.

Monday, August 29, 2016

We have seen the
propensity of MSD to take it to the last ball to finish ~ it was looking
another good one – a couple of huge sixers by Dhoni evaporating into the stand
and one followed by KL Rahul… a gettable last over ~ 2 off the last – Dhoni getting
out – anti-climax, immediate reaction by some on twitter, FB and other social
media !

The start of the
second Twenty20 International of the two-match series between West Indies and
India was delayed by nearly an hour,
officials announced. The match was
scheduled to start 10:00 am Eastern Caribbean time at the Central Broward
Regional Park Stadium but the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) reported a delay because of “technical
reasons”. A 30 minute delay was first announced followed by an extra ten
minutes – eventually, the delay becoming an hour.

Some confusion –
before we read, there was the time difference, as we comfortably sat to see the
matches in late evening. A time zone is
a region of the globe that observes a uniform standard time for legal,
commercial, and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries of
countries and their subdivisions because it is convenient for areas in close
commercial or other communication to keep the same time. Remember that couple of years back, then Assam
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi announced his
decision to reset the clock in the State an hour ahead of IST to save energy
and increase productivity. Daylight saving time (DST) or summer time is the
practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening
daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. A dual
time zone in India, if Assam were to turn its clock forward by an hour, would not only create “unimaginable chaos” in a
country of India’s demographic size, but also barely meet its intended goal of
saving energy.

Remember the match
was played in Florida. Time in the
United States, by law, is divided into nine standard time zones covering the
states and its possessions, with most of the United States observing daylight
saving time (DST) for approximately the spring, summer, and fall months. Official
and highly precise timekeeping services (clocks) are provided by two federal
agencies: the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) (an agency
of the Department of Commerce); and its military counterpart, the United States
Naval Observatory (USNO). The clocks run by these services are kept
synchronized with each other as well as with those of other international
timekeeping organizations. It is the combination of the time zone and daylight
saving rules, along with the timekeeping services, which determines the legal
civil time for any U.S. location at any moment.

India’s chances of
levelling the series after a heartbreaking one-run loss in the thrilling first
Paytm T20I against West Indies were dashed when the second and the final match
was called off due to wet patches on the outfield following rain. Indians clearly looked in control unlike the
earlier match having bowled out the mighty West Indies for just 143 runs in 19.4 overs at Central
Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill.

When India’s chase
began, openers Rohit Sharma and Ajinjya Rahane were batting on 10 and four
respectively, when the play was halted with India 15/0 after two overs, needing
another 129 runs from 18 overs. With the outfield developing wet patches, even
three more overs of play, which would have ensured a result was not possible. When it started raining, by DLS – India without
losing a wicket had to score 27 in 5 overs (the minimum required for a result
!)

So when play was
finally called-off, Indians felt robbed of an easy victory. Earlier, captain MS
Dhoni once again won the toss and elected to bowl first. The Indian bowlers
were sharp and made brilliant use of their variations. Leg spinner Amit Mishra,
who replaced Stuart Binny was in the thick of the action and on many occasions,
the West Indies batsmen failed to read him. Mishra removed the dangerous
Johnson Charles (43 off 24) on the first ball he bowled in the final Powerplay
over and bowled Dwayne Bravo with a googly and captain Carlos Brathwaite with a
flighted delivery. Amit perhaps would
not have been there, if Indians had time to have a T20 line-up – as in the
earlier T20 squad Pawan Negi and Harbhajan Singh had edged him out.

The rain and also
the technical delay – most probably due to live feed from satellite not being
available denied the victory. In the
world of Commercials, it is the bizarre case of not starting the match, simply
because it could not go live on air !!! ~ the weather was perfect, everything
else was in place – but technology, the relaying back to the cricket crazy
nation denied a chance.

This two-match
series in Florida, which West Indies won 1-0, was supposed to be an exercise to
take the game into a new market, a market where fans are used to being treated
better than cricket tends to treat fans in India. The broadcasters had paid
massive sums for the rights and deserved some consideration, but there was rain
expected later in the afternoon. It is further
reported that at around 12.40pm, with India looking to be on their way to a win
having restricted West Indies, it rained for around 20 minutes. The ground
didn't have a Super Sopper, and wasn't covered fully. The business area was
promptly ready for play and the deep parts of the outfield drained well too,
but the top of the bowlers' run-ups, around the area where the painted
advertisements are, didn't dry up. The captains were seen looking at that
particular area with concern minutes before the game was called off at 2pm.

The official
presentation was carried out in gloomy circumstances with the official
interviewer steering clear of even mentioning the delayed start, without which
the crowd would have had a result. The studio shows and the official
interviewer only spoke of how humans are helpless against "mother
nature" and "weather". Without being prompted, the West Indies
captain Carlos Brathwaite said he hoped the drainage and equipment would
improve at the ground, which he said was a wonderful venue otherwise.

Saturday, August 27, 2016

This left-hander replaced Chris Gayle and perhaps
outsmarted him… .. .. Do you what brackets : Wayne Parnell, Izatullah Dawlatzai
and Stuart Binny together ? Today, everyone knows – Stuart
Broad stands at top having conceded 36 runs in a single over in T20 and after
him these three : Stuart Binny joining the list having been mauled by E Lewis
at Lauderhill, Florida.

In
the end whose ton was better ?

Cricket attracts
crowds ~ that is what this experimentation in Florida is all about. Making
Cricket famous in US with large Indian crowds turning up there today. Back home, Chepauk, which was deprived of
International matches by many schemes [no World Cup ~ then no IPL too for the
past two years !!] bustled with activity.
There were so many walking on roads nearer the stadium, buying tickets. The
inaugural India Cements Tamil Nadu Premier League had a grand launch with
the cream of Kollywood participating in
the opening ceremony. It was Kollywood glamour
of Shriya Saran, Dhansika of Kabali with
fireworks too added to the festive atmosphere.

Bharata Natyam,
Tamil folk art and traditional Kerala dances too were performed by experts and
children to mark the landmark event. Singer Karthik sang while actor Dhanush unveiled the trophy with TNCA president N Srinivasan PS Raman,
chairman of the league. Dhoni had
earlier been there. The popular stands
were filling with so many people. The
colourful stadium, facilities and the music and dance during breaks made the
TNPL resemble IPL. It is good for the young players of the State though BCCI
had designed to keep everyone out by rules and also conducting Duleep trophy at
the same time.

At Florida
today, big disappointment to the crowd was
Chris Gayle missing from the West Indies line-up because of injury. His
replacement at the top of the order, Andre Fletcher, also the wicketkeeper, was
expected to be in immediate action - but
Charles walked in with Evin Lewis. Lewis
debuted at Vidarbha Cricket Association, Jamtha, Nagpur in T20 no. 552 on 27th
Mar 2016 – it was a double disaster. He
scratched for 7 balls without opening his account – out for a duck against
Afganistan, who beat West Indies by 6 runs.

India unveiled a
bit of a surprise at the top of the order, with Shikhar Dhawan making way for
KL Rahul, MS Dhoni won the toss and put WI in. Fletcher filled the void left by
the sacked Denesh Ramdin. Kieron Pollard took Darren Sammy's place. Sunil
Narine, back with a cleared action, replaced Sulieman Benn in the XI that West
Indies played in their previous T20I. This was Carlos Brathwaite's captaincy
debut. WI made record breaking 245 /6
behind Australia’s 248 and Sri Lankans 260/6 the highest in this format. Evin
Lewis made a classic 100 off 49 balls; shared 126 opening partnership with
Johnson Charles who made 79 off mere 39 balls.

At break – a chase
of 246 seemed improbable – and it went by the wire to the last ball !!

Indian
chase was great in that 489 runs match. Debutant KL Rahul was brilliant –
making century off 46 –missing the World record by a solitary delivery and remaining
unbeaten 110 0ff 51 balls. We have many a times seen Dhoni making that finish. Today too, he smashed a 108M six of Russel…. ..
..but in the end, Dwayne Bravo outfoxed
MS Dhoni and the centurion Rahul by defending seven runs in the last over.
India needed two off the last ball, Bravo made Dhoni wait and wait before
bowling a slower ball that was caught at short third man.

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Srinivas Youngmens Association (SYMA) has been doing
service relentlessly since 1977.
Commemorating entry into 40th year of Service, on 15th
Aug 2016, SYMA brought out a small handbook containing telephone numbers of
utilities and services in and around Triplicane. This was released in the Eye Camp that we
conduct every year on the Independence day – in association with Lion Club
(Venus), Sri Seervi Samaj Bhavan, Triplicane Brahmins Welfare Association and Sri Sankara
Eye Hospital, Pammal.

Around 130 people were screened ~ 16 persons were
selected, taken to Sri Sankara Eye Hospital, Pammal on the same day. Cataract surgery was done free for them and a
day later, they were brought back to Triplicane in a van arranged by SYMA. SYMA Office members and some members too went
to the hospital on 16th Aug, met those who underwent eye surgery,
providing them words of comfort.

31 persons were prescribed spectacles. The eye-glasses were made by Sri Sankara Eye
Hospital, Pammal and they were distributed in a function held at SYMA Medical
Centre today @ 7.00 pm.

Today SYMA remembers Mr KE Raghavan, who left us this
day in 2007. The edifice of SYMA has
been built brick by brick by the efforts of some and late KE Raghavan played a
great part in maintaining the Centre those days. Raghavan endeared to everyone
with his pleasant nature, dedicated work for SYMA and his culinary skills. Mr KE Srinivasan, Prop. Alamu Stores,
distributed the glasses alongwith Mr TJ Ramani, President. Many Office bearers and members were also
present.

A casual search led to a photo of Team India members
Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar visiting the home of Miami Heat (three time champions
of National Basketball Association) in U.S.A. on Thursday. A report suggests that the trio were hosted by the latest recruit of Miami
Heat - Tyler Johnson as he gave them a walk through their locker room, team
meeting room, gymnasium and recuperation centre at the American Airlines Arena.

Recall that
in Apr 2016, on a Sunday - much hyped
World T20 finals 2016 – England once pushed to corner could muster and set up a
target of 155. Ordinary mortals talked about Chris Gayle and the new
found hero Lendl Simmons. After 17 WI were 118/6 – 38 required off 18 and it
was only wishful thinking of any miracle happening .. Marlon was still
there and had been joined by a player who had been recently bought by
DDR. It boiled to 19 off the last – near impossible. Ben
Stokes to bowl it, a young player gaining a reputation as a reliable “death”
bowler. He was faced by Carlos Brathwaite, a tall muscular
Barbadian, with long levers and a keen eye. It was six over backward
square leg; over long-on; over long-off and one over wide long – on.

History was
made – the man, Allrounder Carlos
Brathwaite, who has played only eight T20Is, has been appointed the new West
Indies T20 captain for the two matches against India. Darren Sammy, who led them to two World T20
titles, has cruelly been sacked and also left out of the 13-man squad. India, which just won a series against West
Indies in the Caribbean in Test cricket, the purest form of the game, is ranked
second behind New Zealand in T20, the shortened format. West Indies is
currently No. 3 despite being the reigning T20 world champion. However, they have 3-2 against India in T20
Internationals.

Interestingly, the match is not played in any of the
Caribbean grounds ! – the venue is at

Lauderhill, a city
in Broward County, Florida, United States. Florida, (Spanish for
"land of flowers") is a state located in the southeastern region of
the United States, bordered by Gulf of
Mexico, Alabama and Georgia, Atlantic
Ocean, and Straits of Florida and Cuba. Florida is the
22nd most extensive, the 3rd most populous, and the 8th most densely populated
of the United States. Jacksonville is the most populous city in Florida, and
the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. Since the first European contact was made in
1513 by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León – who named it La Florida ([la floˈɾiða] "land of
flowers") upon landing there in the Easter season, Pascua Florida –
Florida was a challenge for the European colonial powers before it gained
statehood in the United States in 1845. It was a principal location of the Seminole Wars against the
Native Americans, and racial segregation after the American Civil War.

The 1st T20 between India and West Indies will
be played at Lauderhill on 27th Aug and the 2nd on the next
day.

The ground has seen some Cricket already. Caribbean Premier League's maiden foray into
playing on US soil was a chance for the sport to be revived at the Central
Broward Regional Park (CBRP) in Lauderhill to combat the burgeoning presence of
soccer at the facility. In some ways, the CPL accomplished this because, India
agreed to play two Twenty20 Internationals against West Indies shortly after
the league's conclusion. CPL officials have repeatedly said they are committed
to coming back again. However, CPL has declined to provide official attendance figures for the
games in Florida.

So how much of crowds come, might probably influence the
Caribbean cricket further – it however is not going to be the first ever T20 at
Lauderhill. Way back in May 2010, New
Zealand played 1st ever T20 at
Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill and won by 28
runs.

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Amatrice
is a hilltop beauty spot famed as the home of amatriciana, one of Italy's
favourite pasta sauces. Amatrice, in fact, was due to have its annual festival
honouring its namesake food on August 27-28 in the historic centre now rendered
to rubble. It is a popular destination for Romans seeking cool mountain air at
the height of the summer. Amatrice is a town and comune in the province of
Rieti, in northern Lazio (central Italy)– this city of agricultural base is in
news for wrong reasons!

Seismicity
in the Himalayan region dominantly
results from the continental collision of the India and Eurasia plates, which
are converging at a relative rate of 40-50 mm/yr. Northward underthrusting of
India beneath Eurasia generates numerous earthquakes and consequently makes
this area one of the most seismically hazardous regions on Earth. The
Indus-Tsangpo Suture Zone is located roughly 200 km north of the Himalaya Front
and is defined by an exposed ophiolite chain along its southern margin. To put
it simply it is tremors ~i.e., Earthquake !!!

The
April 2015 Nepal earthquake killed 9,000 people and injured more than 19,000
according to reports. It was the worst
natural disaster to strike Nepal since the 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake. The
earthquake triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest. Thousands were rendered homeless – some
monuments were flattened too. A second
major earthquake occurred on 12 May 2015 at 12:35 NST – this too caused deaths ! An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the perceptible shaking of the surface of the Earth,
resulting from the sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates
seismic waves. Earthquakes can be violent enough to toss people around and
destroy whole cities.

The clock on the 13th
century tower in Amatrice, Italy, poignantly stopped just after Wednesday's
earthquake struck at 3.36am. The town
was one of the hardest hit in the disaster, with at least 17 dying there, from
a total of over 70 lives lost. Reports suggest
that the death toll from the earthquake
that hit Amatrice and other villages in central Italy is rising at an alarming
rate. Some reports however add that so
far it looks as if the number of fatalities will be substantially lower than
when an earthquake of comparable force hit the nearby city of L’Aquila in 2009,
killing 309 people. The casualty tally
will nevertheless be far higher than it should be in a country of Italy’s
wealth – but much lower than it might have been. The 6.2-magnitude earthquake,
like the one that devastated L’Aquila, struck at night.

Had people been at
work, in shops or at school, the outcome would have been much worse. Two years
ago, President of Italy’s National Council of Geologists, said that according
to some estimates, if the L’Aquila earthquake had struck when students were in
their classrooms, “the number of victims would have been thousands, not
hundreds”. It is still not simple ~ 'Half
the village has disappeared,' said Amatrice mayor Sergio Pirozzi, surveying a
town centre that looked as if had been subjected to a bombing raid. 'To hear the mayor of Amatrice say his
village no longer exists and knowing that there are children among the victims,
is very upsetting for me,' he said. It was packed with visitors when the quake
struck.

The first quake
measured 6.2, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which
said it occurred at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres (six miles). It measured
6.0 according to Italian monitors, who put the depth at only four km. A
5.4-magnitude aftershock followed an hour later. Strong tremors were felt in
the capital Rome, more than 100 miles from the epicenter near the city of
Perugia - the epicentre was between Norcia and Accumoli. The true horror of the Italian earthquake
disaster was revealed as witnesses
described the hellish scenes as 'like Dante's inferno' and shocking pictures
showed how four towns were almost wiped off the map.

There were cries of
people shouting for help - rescue workers arrived after one hour... one and a
half hours, states one media. Thereafter,
rescuers spoke of hearing children's screams from the rubble and locals were
spotted frantically digging with their bare hands to try and save loved ones. The
quake which devastated the mountainside towns and villages of Amatrice,
Accumoli, Arquata del Tronto and Pescara del Tronto was so powerful that it
even rocked buildings in the centre of Rome more than 100 miles away and was
felt as far away as Croatia.The earthquake in Norcia
occurred in a shallow fault in the Apennines, a chain of mountains that form the
backbone of Italy’s ‘boot’. It is well known for being a highly complex and
geologically active region as it sits at a point where several tectonic plates
grind against each other.

According to the US
Geological Survey, the quake was caused
by the stretching of the Earth’s crust as the tectonic plates beneath moved
apart. Since the late Miocene a large basin has been opening up under the
western Mediterranean Sea at the point where the massive Eurasian tectonic
plate meets the African plate. The
earthquake in Norcia is thought to have been caused by the opening of the
Tyrrhenian basin occurring faster than the compression between the Eurasian and
African plates, causing the earth’s crust to stretch. At the location of the earthquake, the
Eurasian plate moves towards the northeast with respect to the African plate at
a rate of around 24mm/yr, according to the US Geological Survey.

Compared to other
much larger earthquakes, such as the one off the coast of Japan in 2011 which
was magnitude 9.0, it occurred at a much shallower depth which may account for the high levels of destruction
seen in Norcia. The most powerful earthquake in Italian history, magnitude 7.4
quake destroyed at last 70 towns and cities, causing death of around 60,000
people occurred at Sicily in Jan 1693.

The natural
disasters bring in untold hardships – quake destroys homes, buries people under
rubble, roads and structures are damaged, powerlines get disrupted thereby
bringing in darkness, food, medicine all
become scarce and sadly some humans resort to plundering when others are in distress
!

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Pink revolution refers to the modernisation of the meat
and poultry processing sector ~ am no person to write on that !

Nawanagar was an Indian princely state in the region of Kathiawar, located on the southern
shores of the Gulf of Kutch. It was ruled by the Jadeja dynasty until 1948 when
it became a part of newly formed India. The district is now known as Jamnagar. Its rules were the mighty Hindu Rajputs.
From here came the famous cricketer and ruler - Jam Saheb Ranjitsinhji after
whom the premier Cricket tournament is named.
There is another domestic tournament – the Duleep Trophy, earlier a
prestigious one played between teams
representing geographical zones of India [ 5 : South; North; West; East and
Central]. Named after Kumar Shri
Duleepsinhji of Nawanagar (also known as "Duleep") – for long was the
platform for National selection. The competition was started by the Board of
Control for Cricket in India in the 1961–62 season. The inaugural tournament
was won by West Zone who defeated South Zone in the final by 10 wickets.

A cricket ball is not a perfect sphere. The seam of the
ball is the circular stitching which joins the two halves of the cricket ball.
Hence, the seam joining the pieces of leather is circumferential and the
stitching is noticeably raised.

Away, there has been lot of talk of using the pink ball -
Australia trialled night sessions using the pink ball during the domestic
Sheffield Shield season and mooted
hosting a first day-night test against New Zealand. After Kerry Packer-promoted Pyjama cricket –
coloured uniforms, white ball, floodlit daynight one-day matches in 1977 –
cricket is now headed for day-night Tests. Though there are reports
suggesting that the overwhelming majority of players believe the pink
Kookaburra ball isn't yet ready for test cricket- for the reason that it goes
soft very quickly, does not swing and seam and more importantly does not
‘reverse-swing’ – it is all happening in Greater Noida in India.

From a premier
tournament catapulting players to National honours, Duleep Trophy has gradually
steeped towards insignificance. The 2013-14 final was washed out with just a
handful of overs bowled because of incessant rain and a wet outfield.

Allotting
Kochi the match during the peak monsoon season spoke of the tournament's
irrelevance … now at Greater Noida, teams named India Red, India Green, India
blue are facing real test in 2016 edition.

The matches are to
be played by trialling the pink ball under lights before hosting a day-night
Test.

While the latest innovation has been ruled out for the home series
against New Zealand, the success of this season's Duleep Trophy could be a
significant step towards hosting India's inaugural pink ball Test in the near
future. For the players though, the
focus will largely be on getting acquainted to the pink ball under lights. The
ball being used isn't the traditional SG ball used for games in India. Instead,
in comes the Kookaburra from Australia while SG continues to test out their
variant of the pink ball.

pic credit : aajtak

Kookaburras (genus Dacelo) are terrestrial tree kingfishers
native to Australia and New Guinea. The name is a loanword, onomatopoeic of its
call. The kookaburra's loud call sounds like echoing human laughter. The
Australia men's national field hockey team have the nickname ‘kookaburras’

Have read that the finals of
1975 Duleep trophy was played between South Zone and North Zone at Chepauk,
Madras. SZ were ably led by Srinivasan
Venkatraghavan. Batting first South made
390; Brijesh Patel scored a century; V Krishnaswamy made 50; Michael Dalvi,
Roger Binny, Gundappa Vishwanath all made 40s.
Mohinder Amarnath, Madanlal, Bishan Bedi, Shukla, Vinay Lamba were the
bowlers ~ most successful was Rajinder Singh Goel who took 7/98. For North Chetan Chauhan and Venkat Sundaram
opened; Surinder Amarnath made an unbeaten 122;
as they were all 0ut for 291. Chandra took 5/70. In the 2nd, other than Viswanath
none scored, as SZ were bundled out for 134.
Bedi and Goel took 5 each, while
Goel’ s figures were 25.1-11-36-5. North were bowled out for 196 as South won
by 37 runs. Venkat broke the middle with
5/62.

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Pusarla Venkata Sindhubrought us honours ~ whole Nation celebrated – in between –
someone wrongly tweeted something to Saina, who responded gracefully. That takes to the Q what do athletes do after
Olympics (after winning or failing !) Heard
of Skeet Shooting – a sport where participants use shotguns attempt to break
clay targets mechanically flung into the air.
Paul Adams represented Australia, could not make a mark – but would
return to Operation theatre as he has just started his career as a nurse at the Redcliffe Hospital.
… .. why a photo of Bolt batting ? one
may wonder !

Athletics
is a famously lonely sport: Mo Farah has spoken of his struggles to train away
from his family, often by himself, still there is the relay race, which
exhibits team talent. In the 4 X 100
Mens, the result was never in doubt as
Jamaica’s sprint dream team of Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake and Nickel Ashmeade
dominated the event, finishing in 37.27secs, around half a second slower than
the world record. Perhaps only thing the three had to do was to handover the
baton to Bolt without confusion as the man
with 100 metres in 9.58 seconds can outsmart others. Yet the team where everyone is good were sort
of challenged most unexpectedly by Japanese, who broke the Asian record.

Given
the way they celebrated, there aren’t many things that the Jamaican men’s
4x100-meter relay enjoyed more than winning Olympic gold. On baton exchange,
USA failed once again and were disqualified, missing out the bronze medal. There is a heated rivalry between the two
teams, even with Jamaica having dominated the event at the past three Olympics
and Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell had no hesitation at taunting the USA over its
missed step. The Jamaican women team too won with ease.

Of
the four, there is another famous man – in Aug 2011 at the 13th World Championships in Athletics - in Daegu, South Korea, Yohan Blake, a fellow Jamaican outran Usain
Bolt. He became the youngest sprinter to have broken the 10-second
barrier (at 19 years, 197 days). He is
often pictured with his prized possession, a luxury watch. It is Richard Mille, a brand of luxury Swiss watches from the
company of the same name founded in 1999 by French businessman Richard Mille. Richard
Mille SA is based in Les Breuleux, in the Canton of Jura, Switzerland.

The
brand's most famous models are the Tourbillon RM 008 (chronograph tourbillon)
and the sapphire split seconds (chronograph tourbillon) RM 056. The RM 008
combines a tourbillon movement with manual winding, a chronograph
split-seconds, a torque indicator, and a power reserve indicator. Claimed to be
one of the most advanced watches in the world, it is priced from 500,000 Euro.
(3.80 Crores Indian Rupees) .. in the Olympics 100M was Yohan Blake, Bolt’s
training partner and the second-fastest man in the world, wearer of this famous
brand of luxury. There was this famous fan in the stands, luxury watch maker
Richard Mille, the same man whose name is on his new US$1 million dollar watch.
Mille signed the Jamaican to his luxury brand, which also features tennis star
Rafael Nadal, Formula 1's Felipe Massa and golfer Bubba Watson, weeks before
the London 2012 Olympics and delivered the latest hand-crafted timepiece to the
Jamaican star, just ahead of Blake's 100m heat today.

The
custom watch features white bands with green stitching, a green and gold case
with signature Richard Mille construction as well as a black bezel plus a black
dial with skeleton movements and gold accents.
"The objective was to do a
watch that was extremely resistant, light and very comfortable, we achieved
that and for him the watch is like a second skin. It feels very well on the
wrist and I like to do watches that are in one sense complex but also very
resistant and comfortable," he added. The businessman said Blake's rise as
the future of sprints, Jamaica's appeal and the athlete's personality were all
big draws and influences behind the decision to partner with the athlete. The deal was concluded two or three weeks
before the Olympic in London in 2012 and it became like a love story at first
glance.

Now to the other side of the story !! ~ Blake could not win a
medal in 100M. A disappointed Yohan
Blake hinted about switching to cricket from the coming season and his good
friend Chris Gayle is already on the job to help him get an Indian Premier
League contract. Just after finishing fourth in the 100m dash, a visibly
shattered Blake spoke about sport beyond track and field. Known as 'The Beast'
amongst his rivals, Blake was back to his cheerful self while talking about his
fast bowling abilities that may be a huge attraction to Indian teams.

"Hey, I really bowl fast. Be careful when you face
me," he said in his typical manner but in a loud and clear voice ! Asked if Blake was just kidding, like the
way he said after the London Games final in 2012, he said: "I'm serious
about playing IPL. Hopefully, you guys (Indians) will see me in action this
coming season," said Blake while sipping water from his bottle after the
100m burst in which he finished at 9.93s.

At 27, Blake still has a few years left in him in athletics.
Whether it is his love for bowling fast or wanting to sample the atmosphere in
IPL is not clear. Blake hinted that fellow Jamaican Chris Gayle is helping him
out to be in touch with the right people in India. There are any number of
franchise holders who need more star value and Blake could fit the bill. However,
there are a few technicalities which will need to be worked out in case Blake
does get an IPL contract. The first thing is that Board of Control for Cricket
in India would need a NOC from Jamaica's board before putting him in the IPL's
pool of auctions.

Thursday, August 18, 2016

At Rio, Americans
Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin swept the 100m hurdles in Rio on
Wednesday. Rollins finished first in 12.48 seconds, followed by Ali in 12.59
seconds and Castlin in 12.61 seconds. It was the first time a nation swept the
podium in the event. For men it is 110
metres hurdles. As part of a racing
event, ten hurdles of 1.067 metres (3.5 ft or 42 inches) in height are evenly
spaced along a straight course of 110 metres. They are positioned so that they
will fall over if bumped into by the runner. Fallen hurdles do not carry a
fixed time penalty for the runners, but they have a significant pull-over
weight which slows down the run.

Guadeloupe is located
in the Leeward Islands, part of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. Guadeloupe,
like the other overseas departments, is an integral part of France. It is thus
part of the European Union and the Eurozone, and its currency is the euro. … and this post is about a hurdler from
France Wilehm Belocian who is distraught by a harsh rule. The promising
21-year-old French hurdler was disqualified in round one of the 110-meter
hurdles Monday night because he left the blocks a split second before the
starting pistol sounded.

Belocian responded
to the ruling with anguish, knocking over the nearest hurdle, kneeling on the
wet track and burying his head in his hands before pounding the ground in
frustration. His eyes were still red and tear-stained 15 minutes later when he
blew past reporters in the mixed zone without talking. Fear of false starting
is more prevalent among sprinters and hurdlers these days because of a
controversial rule change that went into effect six years ago. Instead of
charging a first false start to the field with the second disqualifying the
offending runner, athletes are now ousted the first time they flinch early.

The zero-tolerance
policy is intended to speed up the sport and prevent gamesmanship. Sprinters or
hurdlers notorious for slow reaction times can no longer gain an edge by
guessing when the starter’s gun will fire, a habit that slowed down meets and
made it tough for TV networks working within a specific time slot. This rule is cited as one of the cruelest
rules in Sports. So after years of long
and hard training, a millisecond early start denied him the opportunity to
compete further.

Under the previous
rule, the entire field was given a warning in the event of a false start;
anyone in the same race who jumped the gun a second time would be disqualified,
even if it wasn't the first offender. In
2010, the International Association of
Athletics Federations changed the rule to its current draconian level because
of two reasons: Under the old rule, slower runners would purposely jump the gun
to throw off everyone else's timing and give themselves an edge, and the sheer
number of false starts slowed down meets and caused television broadcasts to
run over their time slots. So came the
new harsh rule ~ and immediately hit the news as the great sprinter Usain Bolt,
the fastest man on earth - false-started in the 100-meter final at the 2011
world championships in South Korea, earning a disqualification. Bolt, somewhat ironically, was an initial
supporter of the rule change and refused to criticize it after his own
disastrous false start in 2011. Others think it's awful.

"The sport
suffers when Christine Ohuruogu and Usain Bolt get thrown out of worlds," four-time
Olympic medalist and NBC track and field analyst Ato Boldon said in 2011, via
Yahoo Sports. "They changed the rule saying they were trying to save time
on television, but that did not work. That has not been the case. The reason
the rule hasn't been changed back is you have an organization that's trying to
save face." Ohuruogu, who won 400-meter gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics,
also crashed out of the 2011 world championships, false-starting in a 400-meter
preliminary heat. Still others say that today's top-flight track and field
athletes have grown up with the rule and are used to it by now, and that
today's races are much better without all the gamesmanship.

The IAAF seems
unwilling to change the rule, though in 2012 it adjusted the definition of a
false start, ruling that a sprinter's hands had to leave the ground or their
feet need to leave the blocks for it to be considered a false start
(previously, a mere flinch in the blocks could earn you one). Still, the chance
remains that a hard trained athlete could see his Olympics end before the race
even begins.